A lot has been made of Marian Gaborik's struggles this year, to the degree that the Rangers traded him to the Blue Jackets for a collection of depth players today the NHL trade deadline. It should noted his poor results are mostly due to bad luck rather than poor play.

Gaborik has an on-ice shooting percentage of just 5.74 percent, which is well below the league average of 8 percent and just more than half of what the Rangers managed last year with him on the ice (10 percent).

Marian Gaborik is having, for him, a highly unlucky spell. (AP Photo)

His personal shooting percentage of 8 percent is also the lowest of his entire career. Usually a potent shooter, Gaborik has topped 15 percent in four different previous seasons and boasts a career average of about 13 percent.

Gaborik's possession rates for New York are more ambiguous. The only Ranger forwards with better corsi rates (shots directed towards the net while the player is on the ice) than the former Wild sniper are Carl Hagelin, Rick Nash and Derek Stepan (+8.86 corsi per 60 minutes of ice time). However, no one starts more often in the offensive zone than Gaborik (67.1 percent offensive face-off ratio).

In fact, that zone start number is one of the most favorable amongst regular forwards in the league, which renders his plus possession numbers far less impressive.

Gaborik is still probably a legitimate offensive threat, albeit one going through a dry spell. He may not be a capable two-way forward given the way John Tortorella has used him this year, but if Columbus can shelter his a bit then Gaborik likely gives them a big gun, which is sorely lacking from their current lineup.